Links

Cambodia’s foreign minister met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on Tuesday, amid growing concerns over Cambodia’s rights record and complaints of election irregularities in polls last week.

Clinton will travel to Cambodia for a major Asean conference in Phnom Penh next month, where she said the US has “many issues to discuss.”

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said after the meeting the Cambodia was seeking greater US investment in Cambodia.

“Cambodia hopes that the volume of US investment and trade between the two sides will increase over time,” the foreign minister told a forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in Washington.

A group of Cambodian-American protesters gathered outside the State Department during the meeting, demanding the release of 15 demonstrators from prison and improved human rights.

Ou Kim Huot, a protester from Pennsylvania, said the relationship with Cambodia and US has improved, but Cambodia still must improve its rights record.

“We want to see the US with better friends, rather than seeking friendship with dictators who constantly exploit the US,” Ou Kim Huot said.

Around 600 years ago, the people living in the remote Cardamom Mountains in southern Cambodia placed the bones of their dead in large jars on steep ledges hidden deep in the jungle.
Ten years after discovering a large grave site full of jars, researchers are still baffled as to why ancient Cambodians used jars in this way. AP reports from Koh Kong province, Cambodia.